Improvement in car-brakes



F. A. MATHEWS. Car-Brake.

No. 215,014. Patented May 6, 1879.

' WITNESSES; INVENTOR.

n N. PUERS, FHOTO-LITKOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D a

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX A. MATHEWS, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEM ENT IN CA'R-BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 2] 5,014, dated May 6, 1879; application filed December 14, 1878.

ing is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, making a part thereof, in which Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional view of a car-truck with my improved brake mounted thereon. Fig. 2 represents a transverse view of the same, the vertical section being made near the middle of the car-truck.

The objections existing in the usual brakemountings employing the common brake-bars and hangers, levers, lever connectors, and chains are, mainly, that, first, the lever-connectors are located too low, they being below the brake-bars, and therefore in dangerous proximity to objects that may lie on the track; second, the connected parts are not safely secured together, often occasioning wrecks of trains by certain parts dropping ofi onto the track and obstructing it; third, the connected parts are not so joined as to be readily adjusted to compensate for the wear of the liners of the shoes.

The object of my improvement is, therefore, mainly, to provide the ordinary brake-bars, hangers, and shoes with such superior leverconnectors and lever-keepers that not only the objections above enumerated may be avoided and remedied, but that the brake may be fully as powerful as, and without the rigidity attendant on, other improvements on the common lever-brakes hung from the bolster, and therefore, also, much superior to brakes hung from the spring-plank.

[n the accompanying drawings, A represents the truck-bolster, and d d the truss-rods thereon, strung over the saddle z, and having attached thereto the brake-hangers w w by the ordinary clevises, thereby suspending the ordinary brake-bars m n and shoes 12 o. B represents the spring plank wholly unconnected with the brake, excepting that the connector s of the brake-levers M N simply rests thereon when stress is off said levers, so as to properly hold the shoe-liners R B away from the truck-wheels W W, to avoid cutting their upper ends by wear. Said connector 8 is made of bell-crank form, as shown, having its ends D D bent below the top of the spring-plank B and slotted, to pass through them the levers M N, pivoted thereto by one of several holes therein, made to take up the wear of the liners by adjustment of the pivot-pins into different sets of said holes. The body of the said connector is of round stufi', and by its form it is somewhat spring-like, thus presentin g or holding the levers M N sensitively taut, with sufficient elasticity to compensate for the fall and rise of the bolster A, which governs the fall and rise of the shoes 4: o and a variation of pressure thereon by difference of situation against the wheel-tread.

Directly on the bolsterAis affixed, by screws or bolts t t, the keeper K of the levers M N, also slotted at its ends E F, to pass through them the upper ends of said levers, each of which has a ring, G, or link G,inserted therein, so that should their lower parts become detached from their connections by loss of parts the levers themselves will be kept in the slots of the keeper K. Both the keeper K and the connector 8 have their slotted ends closed, so that the connector .9 is also kept secure against dropping off, as the levers M N must first be disengaged before it can be removed.

The keeper K is made of flat bar, bent, as shown, to form a slotted end at F, and bent and returned to form the long or sweep slot at E, in which are several holes for pins when it is desired to limit the backward sweep of lever N.

The brake is actuated by the usual link, G, chain J, and any approved reel device therefor. The brake is drawn taut bylink G sweeping lever end H toward bolster A, and it is released or falls away from the car-wheels (duly distanced therefrom) by gravity, the hangings and connector .9 seeking their places of rest.

The slots w m in the brake-levers M N are so situated in said bars as to allow the connector .9 to adapt itself, and therefore the fulcra of said levers at the pins in said slots, to compensate for the rise and fall of the bolster A, and thus avoid too great rigidity in the brake mechanism.

By this mode of constructing and combining the co-operative elements in my brake I obtain a degree of elasticity in it, while I do not lose its efl'cctiveness.

I am aware that various car-brakes are in use in which the t'ulera of the brakelevers are fixedly supported on or against the truck-log; or lower timber ot' the truck, thus causing too great rigidity in the brake, and which actual practice proves 1 have obviated by my bent connector, in which the tillcra of the. levers are somewhat yielding, and which accommo date themselves so as to sustain the resistance equally on each other wholly free from lateral purchase on the trnck log. I therefore do not claim talent or pivots for brakelevers supported on the truck-log; nor do I claim the brake-lever connector broadly; but I do claim it when made bell-crank form and supported freely over the truck-log.

Having thus full; and clearly described my invention, what I regard as new and useful, and what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States of America, is substantially embraced in the following claim:

The combination of the brake-levers M N, pivoted at their lower extremities tothe swinging brake-bars m n, with the connector 3, perforated at the ends, and adj ustably fulcrumed to the brake-levers, slotted at was, by pins passing through said slots and perforations, and the slotted keeper K, all arranged substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 have hereunto set my hand and seal this 12th day of December, 1878.

FELIX A. MATHEWS. [14.8.]

THEOPIIILUS WEAVER, PETER STUCKER. 

